Goodbye Stranger
by DestielPie
Summary: The scene in 'Goodbye Stranger' in Lucifer's crypt from Deans perspective and then from Cas' perspective
1. Chapter 1

Scene from 'Goodbye Stranger' from Dean's perspective

The crypt was dark, filled with spider webs, dust and whispers in the air that haunted Dean as if Lucifer were still in here. Even though there was something up with Cas, he was glad to have him here with him. Glad to have him back in general. Cas was standing at the entrance to the crypt quite still, looking around. Dean shone the torch around, examining all the many worn and tattered boxes and jars that lay strewn through the room.

"Dean, that's it," Cas said bluntly, pointing at a box on the shelf next to Dean.

Dean turned around and shone the torch upon the face of the box.

"How do you know?" slight suspicion in his voice. He eyed Cas waiting for an answer.

'It's the only thing in here warded against Angels."

He doesn't seem right. Why was Cas standing so far away? Usually he was quite intent on standing as close to Dean as possible but not today. Dean turned around and grasped the box never the less. He could now hear Cas' steps coming closer but they were slow and intimidating sounding. Dean picked it up and placed in on the middle table so as to face Cas. Cas had now stopped and was looking at Dean eagerly. Dean could feel Cas watching him and for the first time, Dean didn't like it. He placed the torch under his arm and grabbed a silver knife from the table. It was beautiful, long and shining. Dean stabbed it into the lock, bashed it with his hand and jerked it up, breaking the lock. He threw it aside and opened the box carefully. There it was. A large piece of worthless looking stone.

"Winner, winner, chicken dinner," said Dean with a light smile on his face. He looked up at Cas, almost forgetting the circumstance, expecting to see Cas only inches away looking at Dean innocently and intently. But he wasn't. Cas was standing a few metres away looking dark. Dean pulled out the stone containing the tablet delicately, brushed off the timeless ages of dust and shut the lid. The Angel tablet. If the demon tablet could close the gates of Hell, then what the hell could the Angel tablet do?

"Good," came a deep, husky voice from beside him, "Hand it to me and I'll take it to Heaven."

Cas was staring at the tablet hungrily. He looked up and met Dean's eyes. Dean stared back with a confused expression, seeing Cas' expectant glare.

"No," Dean said hesitantly looking directly at the tablet and back to Cas, "We will take it to Kevin, so he can translate it."

Dean's voice was lathered in questioning, as was his mind. Cas' head coked ever so slightly, bringing back memories to Dean of those first few months of their growing friendship and bond. He used to be so innocent and ignorant, like a child. In some ways he still was, but not right now. All that was in his eyes was an empty look of corruption.

"Right, of course. I'll take it to him right away," Cas said in a monotone voice never losing eye contact with Dean, "No time to waste."

Dean's grasp on the tablet tightens before he even realises. On most occasions his first instinct from this point would be to put the tablet down and kill the threat. However that was not the case today. Today the threat stood opposite him clad in a trench coat and backward blue tie that was so familiarly part of his life now. Dean was panicking. Maybe he could talk his way out of this and try and help Cas later when the situation was less dire.

"He's not that far. I've been meaning to check up on him, bring him some supplies." Dean grasped the tablet firmly under his arm and tried to give Cas his normal smile. The same smile he gave him whenever Cas said or did something so childish or alien. The smile he gave him when Cas didn't understand his references and coked his head with a quizzical look. The same smile he gave him when Cas wasn't looking and Dean saw him by his side or across the room, just being himself. But he couldn't muster it. The smile faltered and broke. He wanted to give Cas a sense of familiarity. Maybe it would help him snap out of it.

"I can resupply the prophet, Dean," Cas said gruffly as he slowly stepped towards Dean around the middle table, Dean shadowing his steps away.

"You know why don't uh, why don't Sam and I take it over to him and you can get back to your mission," Cas stopped and Dean then continued, "Finding the other half of the demon tablet. That is priority isn't it?" Dean could hear the blatantly suspicion in his own voice now.

Cas' head lowered slightly and his seemingly casual façade disappeared entirely. Dean could now see the true Cas behind the mask. The corrupted Cas.

"I can't let you take that Dean," the threat rose in Cas' voice.

Dean stood still and silent, also dropping his casual mask. They were raw now and both knew where they stood.

"Can't or won't?" questioned Dean, his eyebrows deeply furrowed.

"Both."

Still holding the tablet close, Dean took two loping strides towards Cas. Cas wouldn't hurt him, surely. Dean could save him.

Dean's voice was now barely a whisper as he said "How did you get out of Purgatory Cas?"

Cas was still, silent and stoic.

"Just tell me how you got out of Purgatory," Dean persisted as he began to back away, Cas nearing closer, "Be honest with me, since the first time you've been back and this is yours."

Dean felt his voice raise, becoming more gruff and assertive. He was angry now. Not angry at Cas, but angry at whoever or whatever had done this to him. Dean knew Cas better than anyone and this certainly wasn't his doing.

Cas didn't move and his glare remained fixed on Dean as the bright silver Angel sword fell from his coat sleeve into his hand. Dean's eye caught that of the blade and his widened in shock. This wasn't happening.

"Cas," pleaded Dean softly, so softly. Dean's eyes adopted that puppy dog glow suddenly without him even realising.

"Cas I don't know what the hell is wrong with you but if you're in there and you can hear me, you don't have to do this!" Dean started to back away faster now, his voice panicking, raised and the tablet held securely in both hands. Dean could have sworn that as he said this, he could see his Cas behind the eyes of this intruder, trying to break free.

"Cas!" Dean raised the tablet as a shield as Cas brought his clasped fist holding the sword down upon him. Not a strike to kill, only to maim. Lightening cracked as the sword hit the tablet.

Dean couldn't look away from Cas. He kept their eyes locked the whole time. He had to help him, he couldn't lose him and he wouldn't give up trying.

"Cas fight this, this is not you!" Dean shouts at him, only the eyes of a puppet staring back, "Fight it!"

Cas strikes again, hitting the tablet. Suddenly Cas pulls sharply to the side, away from Dean and his body curls over, his hands clawing at his head. Dean steps forward towards him in instinct to protect him.

"What have you done to me Naomi?" Cas groans in hatred.

"Who's Naomi?" Dean demands.

He put his right hand comfortingly on Cas' shoulder and griped him tight, letting him know that he won't leave him; he's here to help. That name. Naomi. It seared into Dean's brain before he even knew what or who she was. She was the culprit behind all this. She was the one who had hurt his Cas.

"Cas?" Dean leaned his head around to catch Cas' eye, to make sure he is okay. He doesn't look okay and this only fills Dean with a burning hatred for this Naomi.

Cas' face was tainted with horror and sorrow. He looked at Dean, pleading in his eyes. Suddenly he sharpened and his left fist collided with Dean, throwing him across the room. Dean felt a gutting pain as he hit the table and pots and crumbled to the floor. He pushed himself up quickly grabbing the tablet and peered around for Cas hurriedly. Dean jumped up only to be greeted with a rapidly appearing Cas a few inches from him, looking fearsome and intimidating, not an expression Dean was used to seeing on his face. Fear rose up in Deans body and he pulled his fist back to punch Cas. He didn't want to do it but he didn't really have any other choice at this point. Cas' reflexes however were unparalleled and he grabbed Dean's wrist faster than light. Dean gasped as Cas held onto him, gripping him tightly. With a hollow look in his eyes Cas twisted Dean's arm at an unnatural angle and a snap resounded through the room. Dean screamed with the pain and crumpled to the floor in front of Cas, dropping the tablet. It smashed open with a crack of lightening and the tablet fell out unharmed. Dean had never imagined in his wildest nightmares that Cas would ever hurt him this way, had never imagined the look of cruelty upon his face. The pain of his broken arm bled into the background and was overwhelmed by the pain of seeing Cas like this. Holding the sword in his right hand but not poised to kill, Cas slammed his fist down upon Dean's face. Blood spurted from his mouth and Dean could feel a tooth dislodge. Tears were clouding his eyes. But they were not tears of pain. Cas looked down dominantly at Dean and across to where the tablet lay, exposed.

"You want it, take it!" shouted Dean through the swelling and the blood. His heart ha suck now and he knelt there I front of Cas, so defeated, so lost. He just wanted it to be over. Cas looked back at Dean now.

"But you're gonna have to kill me first."

Cas' eyes do not shift or move and he shows no sign of anything but emptiness.

"Come on you coward. Do it. DO IT!" Dean shouts at Cas, just wanting him to finish it. He can't do this anymore. He's just so tired. He has always hurt the people he loves most. The only thing that Dean felt anymore was that those he loved deserved to hurt him back. A small part of him wanted Cas to strike. To strike again and again until the blood filled up his mouth and the last thing Dean would get to see would be Cas. That was a blessing enough. Cas strikes again and Dean can feel his left eye explode with pain. Dean whipped his head around to look at Cas, wanting to see his face as much as possible before he was finished. Dean saw something though. He could see the Cas he knew, the Cas he loved, pleading behind those cold eyes. He could see them screaming 'Make me stop! Make me stop!' At this moment Dean realised that he had to save him. He was the only one who could do it. This wasn't Cas. The last person he saw could not be of an impersonator of the one he loved. This was the moment that Dean realised he didn't want to die. The memories of Hell flooded his mind and filled him with fear. But most of all Dean realised that he wouldn't get to see Sam again. He wouldn't be able to go back to his home and lay on his bed that remembered him and make Sam a sandwich as watch him eat it with a smile on his little brothers face. He wouldn't be by Sam's side as he went through these trials…He wouldn't ever see Cas again.

"Cas this isn't you, this isn't you!" Dean groans through the tears and blood, his voice shaking with overwhelming fear. Cas brought his fist down upon Dean once more. Dean's arm screamed in protest as he pulled it up to grab onto Cas' hand. He clasped their fingers together and could feel Cas' clammy, warm palm beneath. He had been sweating with fear this whole time also. Cas pulled the sword upwards, posing to kill this time. With his left hand, Dean reached out to Cas, just brushing against his coat. He looked up at Cas, not as an intruder, but as his friend, as someone he loves.

"I know you're in there, I know you can hear me," Dean mumbles, struggling to speak through the pain and fear of losing Cas forever.

"Cas, it's me," he begged.

Cas' arm remained perfectly still with the sword tightly in his grasp.

"We're family," Dean's voice was so soft, and crackled with tears. He looked up at Cas with love pouring from his eyes.

"We need you."

Dean's mind became a sudden mosaic of every moment he had spent with Cas. Imbedded in his mind he saw Cas' smile after Dean pulled his finger, he saw Cas' quizzical stare from inches away, he saw Cas' sorrowful eyes after he had returned the souls, he could smell Cas' coat as he hugged him and he could feel the material of Cas' tie under his finger as he straightened it adoringly on so many occasions. The words played over and over again in his head, a mere soft whisper like a promise and a confession. _I love you. I love you. I love you._

Dean tried to form those own words with his mouth but instead something came out that meant exactly the same thing.

"I need you."

Tears are clouded his eyes and Dean suddenly saw his Angel break through. The sword dropped from his hand onto the floor with a final clang. Dean let go of his hand, his fingers gliding over Cas', to grasp at his broken arm. Dean groaned in pain. Cas' glance moved over to the tablet, which he bent to pick up. The inscriptions glowed and Cas along with them. Dean shielded his eyes from the glare and then the light dulled. The hand holding the tablet swung to the side and Cas reached forward to Dean with his right hand, a look of sorrow on his face. What is happening? Is Cas back? Dean's mind rushed with sudden horror that he had not fixed Cas at all.

"Cas no, Cas, Cas," Dean groaned through the pain and he gropes out with his good hand to grab onto Cas' arm, clenching the material of the coat in his fist. Like Cas is his anchor, which truth be told he really is. Cas cupped Dean's face lovingly, carefully and softly, making sure not to hurt him anymore. Dean can feel the hot touch of his fingers against his skin and an electric current passes through his body. Everything stings at once and then all is gone. The swelling, the blood and the broken bones. Cas' hand drags away from Dean's face, his fingers brushing against his jaw. Dean leaves his grasp against Cas' coat until his arm pulls away. Dean looks up at Cas with an overwhelming mixture of sadness and relief.

"I'm so sorry Dean."

And he means it. Dean can see that. He only hopes that Cas doesn't feel the weight of this as much as Dean does for his mistakes.


	2. Chapter 2

From Cas' perspective

It was dark and dusty inside the crypt. But Cas didn't mind. He didn't much mind anything anymore. Dean shone the torch around the room, inspecting many of the ancient boxes and jars. His torch passed right over the box containing the Angel tablet but Cas stayed silent, unknowing.

The bright light of Naomi's office pierced his eyes. It's almost as bright as an Angel's grace compared to the dank dark confines of the crypt.

"I've found it," he panted as he rushed through the glass doors towards Naomi.

She spun around to face him in her large leather chair, her eyes eager and hungry.

"Tell the Winchester the crypt is empty. Then you can come back-"

"It's warded against Angels," Cas interrupted. Everything felt so sudden and rushed. Cas was quite overwhelmed by the crushing worry that grew inside him.

"Well, you can come back-"

"Crowley's demons are still in town, we're running out of time. What should I do?" Cas said, his voice beginning to rise in panic.

"Handle it."

How does she make everything sound so simple? But it was very far from simple now. Naomi just didn't understand that.

"Dean, that's it," Cas said bluntly, pointing at the box near Dean.

Dean turned around and shone the torch on it, revealing the aged inscriptions covering the surface in the light.

"How do you know?" Dean questioned and Cas can hear the suspicion in his voice.

"It's the only thing in here warded against Angels," Cas stated, his body stiff and rigid with control. His vessel was so tense. He could feel Naomi's control guiding him like a puppet. Cas felt his feet slowly move forward closer to Dean, one by one. Dean picked up the box and heaved it over to the middle table facing Cas. He met Dean's eye as he looked up from the box but Cas was not greeted with Dean's usual smile of delight. Only with a quick shifty glance, not daring to look longer than a few seconds into Cas' eyes. Did he suspect him? Was Cas really that obvious? Cas thought back to the conversation he had heard between Dean and Sam. "He really puts the ass in Cas huh?"

"That doesn't even make sense," thought Cas, "My name only has one 's' when abbreviated so the term 'ass' cannot even fit into it." Dean really needed to think through some of his statements before voicing them sometimes. Dean had broken the lock on the box now and opened it slowly. Cas peered over his shoulder so as to check that Sam and Meg had not returned. As long as they were preoccupied Cas could achieve his goal. Suddenly, that trusty old smile of Dean's (Cas' favourite) sprung out upon his face and he looked up at Cas just like he used to.

"Winner, winner, chicken dinner."

Cas had no idea what this meant but it sounded like some sort of joyous exclamation. Dean was so strange and adorable sometimes. Wait, Cas was supposed to be against Dean here, not marveling at him. Focus.

"Good," Cas confirmed to himself before continuing, "Hand it to me and I'll take it to Heaven."

He was finally about to achieve his goal after all this time. Dean's face suddenly grew worrisome and confused before he hesitantly and questioningly said, "No…we will take it to Kevin, so he can translate it."

"Right, of course. I'll take it to him right away," Cas could here the sinister tone in his own voice, not something he had ever used on Dean before. It didn't feel right yet he continued nonetheless, "No time to waste."

Dean remained in the same spot but shifted his weight onto his favoured leg. His voice was casual and calm when he replied, "He's not that far. I've been meaning to go check on him, bring him some supplies."

Cas noticed Dean pull the tablet closer to his side, securely under his arm and Cas found this frustrating…but why does he feel this way?

Bright light filled his vessels eyes.

"If the demons get their hands on the angel tablet they'll kill us all. They'll destroy Heaven!" Naomi was standing behind her desk; her shoulders set hard, her voice raised in anger.

She looked dangerous and Cas didn't want to see Dean get hurt. He could feel the impending worry building up inside now.

"I can reason with Dean. He's a good man," Cas put his most convincing and reassuring face on to try and calm Naomi. God knows what she was capable of when angered truly. A good man is what he had called Dean. Cas thought about this momentarily. Naomi seemed to doubt this fact, that Dean was indeed good. She after all had been training Cas for months to kill him now. But Dean was the one who tried to stop Lucifer getting out, the one who stopped the apocalypse, the one who saved Cas from trying to be God and went to Purgatory with him after eradicating the threat of Leviathans. All Dean had ever done was help and help and help until there was no one left to help and then he would still never help himself. Dean was a good man. Surely anyone who disagreed with that were the bad guys…right?

This train of thought was snatched from Castiel's mind as Naomi's menacing voice rang through.

"Kill him."

So cold. So deadly.

"I can resupply the prophet Dean," Cas reassured Dean as he circled the middle table, working his way towards him. Cas noticed that Dean was mirroring his steps but in the opposite direction. This should have annoyed Cas and in some way it did. But in some way it didn't, as he could hear a tiny voice in the back of his head shouting 'That's right Dean, run! Please get away from me!'

"You know, why don't uh, why don't Sam and I take it over to him and you can get back to your mission. Finding the other half of the demon tablet, that is priority isn't it?" questioned Dean, looking seriously at Cas straight in the eyes. Inside Cas felt himself react to this glance, this questioning from Dean. But on the outside he only felt his vessel looking back with an emotionless and cold glare.

"I can't let you take that Dean," the threat poured out of his voice.

Why can't Dean take it? Shouldn't Cas let him take it to Kevin? Wasn't this their mission? Why was he saying this? 'What are you doing?' he thought to himself.

Dean stopped abruptly and his eyebrows furrow deeply.

"Can't or won't?"

"Both." Won't? Maybe it simply was just can't.

Dean took a couple of loping and purposeful strides towards Cas and looked him directly in the eye. Cas could feel him staring in.

"How did you get out of Purgatory Cas?"

"What should I say?" thought Cas, "Naomi informed me not to tell him. But why not?"

"There has to be another way!" Cas said to Naomi, pacing back and forth in panic and fear.

"You have done this a thousand times Castiel. You're ready."

But all those times it was never real. He never thought of it as real. It wasn't Dean so it didn't matter; it was merely like killing a shape shifter or leviathan posing as him.

"Kill him and take the tablet and bring it home where it belongs," Naomi said, her voice forceful and grating on Cas' mind. He looked down in despair. This was the one thing he couldn't do, the one thing he wouldn't.

"Just tell me how you got out of Purgatory," Dean said backing away as Cas approached him, "Be honest with me since the first time you've been back…and this is yours."

Dean gestured with the tablet and Cas looked down at it and back to Dean. Cas' muscles in his right hand suddenly released and the angel sword dropped down into his grasp. "No, why did I pull this out? I will not do this. Never."

"Cas," Dean said softly, pleading in his eyes.

"Cas I don't know what the hell is wrong with you but if you can hear me, you don't have to do this!" Dean shouted directly at Cas. He could feel Dean trying to push through towards the real him, trapped inside his controlled vessel. Dean knows! He still has faith in him.

"CAS!" Dean yelled in fright and horror as Cas lunged forward to strike Dean with the angel sword, but Cas managed to turn the sword away and only hit the tablet with his fist as Dean raised it like a shield.

"This isn't right," Cas voiced more to himself than to Naomi, now terribly panicked. What of he couldn't stop it? What if he killed Dean?! He would kill himself if such a thing happened.

"Do you realise what that tablet can do for us, for Heaven!?" screamed Naomi in frustration.

"I won't hurt Dean," Cas said assertively, his true self starting to try and pull through the iron casting around him.

"Yes you will," Naomi hissed and Cas' eyes widened in fright, "You are."

"Cas fight this, this is not you!" Dean bellowed at him as he backed away from the danger that is Cas.

"Fight it!"

He is trying to help him. After all this, Dean is still trying to help Cas and is disregarding himself. Cas tried to tear out but he couldn't and he struck again with his closed fist, hitting the tablet.

He moaned in pain and grabs his head, trying to tear it open so he can release himself from these controls.

"What have you done to me?" Cas growled at Naomi, his true anger forcing it's way through.

"Just relax Castiel," her calm demeanor makes him want to stab her in the face right where she stands and watch her wings singe into the floor behind her, "Let your vessel do what you know deep down is the right thing to do."

No, no, no, no ,no, NO!

"What have you done to me, Naomi?" Cas muttered out loud, grasping at the strings of corruption inside him.

"Who's Naomi?" Dean begged the answer as he automatically leaned forward to Cas, his eyebrows furrowed with anxiety.

"What have I done to you?" Naomi shrieked. Cas looked own in shame and horror of what is transpiring back on Earth. Why can't he fight this?!

"Do you have any idea what it's like out there? There's blood everywhere and it's on your hands!" Cas backed away, shaking his head trying not to listen to her poisonous words, "After everything you did to us, to Heaven! I fixed you Castiel. I FIXED YOU!"

Cas is more lost than he had ever been right now.

"Cas?" Dean placed a hand on his shoulder, gripping him tightly to let Cas know he was here.

Cas' body suddenly sharpened and he spun quickly to smack Dean hard in the face, flinging him across the room and into the table. That was the first time Cas had struck Dean since that fateful time when he was going to say yes to Michael. The horror at what he had done reverberated through Cas from his hand all the way through. The full control of Naomi consumed him now though. He could not break free for everything he was worth. Cas zapped himself in front of where Dean had jumped up with the tablet in hand. He saw a look in Dean's eyes of both fear and anger. It burned Cas with hatred of himself from the inside out. Dean raised his right arm to punch Cas but the angel was too quick. He grabbed Dean's wrist and twisted it sharply, feeling the snap and break of the bones under his fingers. Just like training, except this time there wouldn't be another Dean to replace him. Dean yelped with that harsh and sudden pain, his face contorting and the tablet dropping from his hand. It hit the floor with a crash of lightening, breaking open. That look of pain on Dean's face made Cas cringe on the inside. He felt like crying with the horror of what he was doing but angels don't cry. Dean knelt on the floor in front of him, grasping at his broken arm in shock. Cas struck Dean hard in the face with his hand grasping the sword. Blood spurted from Dean's face and Cas couldn't stop it. He looked down at the tablet and across to Dean.

"You want it, take it!" Dean gurgled through the blood filling his mouth.

"But you're gonna have to kill me first."

Cas could see the defeat in Dean's eyes. He had given up. He wanted to die. Cas' vessel had the idea to lunge forward but it stopped hesitantly.

"Come one you coward, do it. DO IT!"

Cas struck Dean's face again with his closed fist. Dean flailed back and grunted with horrific pain.

"Please!" Cas pleaded to Naomi. His vessels heart was racing. He had never experienced this kind of fear before.

"End this Castiel!"

Cas was pulled back into control and started punching even before he was back this time.

Cas noticed some of the will was back in Dean's eyes as he groans, begging for his Cas to come back to him, "Cas this isn't you, this isn't you!"

Pain and tears welled in Dean's eyes and his voice shook. Cas screamed on the inside.

"I'm trying Dean! I'm trying please don't give up on me! I won't do this! I need help!" his mind screeched in pain.

"Bring me the tablet!" shrieks Naomi.

Cas brought his fist down upon Dean's face one last time and he felt his arm pull upwards, the sword pointed down at Dean, poised to kill. He fought. He pushed at the wall around him but every time he founds a chip Naomi just filled it up with concrete.

"Cas, Cas."

Cas heard Dean's soft whispers, pleadings. But he felt so far away, so detached. Cas felt Dean's fingers tenderly and gingerly glide over his palm and hook around his hand. The warmth of Dean's skin, the heat of his fresh blood. Cas felt his own fingers try and tug back, to hold him.

"I know you're in there, I know you can hear me," Dean murmured through the swelling and the blood. His other hand reaches out towards Cas and he felt Dean brush his hand along his coat, the material shifting against him.

"Cas, it's me," Dean struggled.

Cas could hear evidence of Dean letting go of the tears he had been holding in and he saw on or two roll over his cheek.

"We're family. We need you," Dean confessed, his voice as soft as a warm breeze on an autumn day.

"I need you."

It's as if every moment appears at once in Cas' mind. Every moment spent with Dean. The first time they met when Dean stabbed him. When Dean protected him from Alistair. When Dean found him in Purgatory and embraced Cas with such warmth and love and all Cas could do was stand there and wish he had never found him. All those moments when Dean would wrap and arm around Cas and give him that smile that made Cas feel wanted, feel like he had a place, a family…. made him feel he was loved.

"You have to choose Castiel. Us or them."

And that was it exactly. It would always be them. Cas was the one who fell for humanity, who fell for the Winchesters, who fell for Dean. No matter what it would always be them.

The sword fell from Cas' hand and resounded with a clanging finality.

"Cas."

Cas turned to the tablet. Time to release himself fully. He picked it up and it glowed with the words and wisdom of God. He felt himself light up like a beacon and could feel Naomi's presence disappear. Finally. He looked down at Dean, broken and bloody on the floor. Cas' eyes, now warm, filled up with sorrow. He reached out with his right hand towards Dean. It was about time Cas helped Dean in return, about time he saved him.

"Cas no, Cas, Cas," Dean cried through his pain.

Cas cupped Dean's face tenderly, his fingers sliding over Dean's rough stubble. The feel of Dean's skin beneath his fingers was so warm and welcoming, like he was coming home. Dean grasped at his arm, tugging the coat material into his balled up fist. Cas concentrated on nothing but Dean. His pain, his sorrow, his trials and sufferings. A current ran through Cas and into Dean. Cas pulled his hand away now, trailing his index finger along his jaw. Dean looked up at him in confusion, shock and relief all at once.

"I'm so sorry Dean."

And Cas had never meant it more in his life than now.


End file.
